Stevenson coach Frank Mattucci suspected it the first time he saw her play as an 8th-grader in a junior feeder league for the Patriots. Even at that age, Mattucci believed Tauja Catchings was a walking poster for Ms. Basketball.

"She was gangly and still growing," recalled Mattucci, "and she was careless with the basketball. She was a bit uncomfortable with her jump shot. But I loved the way she flew down the court like a gazelle. I knew she was a player."

Catchings didn't always think so. She was considering not playing basketball her freshman year.

She wasn't having fun, she said. She wanted to concentrate on volleyball.

"I just wasn't enjoying the game," said Tauja.

The nagging perception that her little sister Tamika was the only female basketball player in the family didn't help.

But Mattucci persuaded her to join the basketball team.

And after Tamika--who in 1995 became the only sophomore ever named Ms. Basketball--moved to Texas with her mother, it left the door open for Tauja to make Illinois high school basketball history.

Two state championships. Named to every major high school All-America team in the country. Holds four career records at Stevenson and numerous single-season records. Earned a scholarship to Illinois.

And now this. Tauja Catchings is the 1996 Ms. Basketball of Illinois, upholding what has become a family tradition.

Like she has done all year, Catchings crushed the competition, beating Courtney Smith of Downstate Carlyle by 479 points in statewide balloting by coaches and the media. Points were awarded on a basis of five for first place, three for second and one for third. Catchings tallied 168 first-place votes to Smith's 75.

So how does Catchings feel about this?

"It means a lot," said Catchings, who added, "I'm just happy for the team. It just proves that if you work hard, good things will happen. We proved a lot of people wrong. We had a better season this year without my sister than anybody expected. It wasn't easy."

The game always came naturally for Tauja Catchings. But when she was growing up, there was always the specter of Tamika, the one with the stronger basketball presence, lurking in the background.

Together, the two made each other better players. And they drove their father, Harvey Catchings, crazy.

"I could hardly take them out to play basketball together," said Harvey Catchings, the Bulls radio announcer and a former NBA All-Star, "because neither would want the other to outdo them. They'd start with small fouls. By the time it was finished, they were drawing blood from each other."

As the sisters grew older, their rivalry grew more intense.

When Tauja was a sophomore, she was guarding Tamika. Tamika scored. Tamika giggled. A minor skirmish ensued. Mattucci saw to it that the sisters wouldn't guard each other again.

Indeed, the two things that motivate Tauja Catchings are pressure and anger.

When she was a freshman, she went 10 for 10 from the floor, stole the ball in the last seconds and hit a free throw with no time remaining to beat Libertyville.

After the game, Mattucci told the media not to expect that kind of performance again. He didn't want to put that kind of pressure on the youngster.

The next game she was 10 for 10 against Warren.

At 15, Tamika Catchings was the youngest player to win Ms. Basketball in Illinois. More aggressive, stronger, the more innately gifted one of the pair is what people said.

Is it true? Not everyone thinks so.

Mattucci always said the two were different players. It was like comparing a Monet with a Da Vinci.

Tauja was the better defensive player. She could jump higher off the jump shot. She was more graceful. Tamika was an offensive rebounder extraordinaire. Hers was more of a power game. She was a natural scorer. Different but good is what Mattucci preached.

In deference to her sister and her amazing talent, Tauja never complained about the perception that Tamika was the better player.

"Tauja is a true soldier," said her mother, Wanda Catchings. "She has shown a lot of humility. She has had a younger sibling, who for tournament games would always be called upon to play. At some point, it really did bother her. But she has always been able to look upon her sister as a good player.

"I've always known that Tauja is just as deserving of Ms. Basketball as Tamika was. I'm just happy that everyone got the chance to see the type of player and person she is."

Would it have happened if Tamika hadn't moved?

"There is no question the separation helped her game," said Harvey Catchings. "Tamika is the stronger player, the stronger on-court personality. Their games are entirely different. Tamika has to work a lot harder than Tauja. The game comes more naturally to (Tauja). When Tamika was here, she would just say, `You take over. I'll do what I have to.' "

Just as deserving? Maybe more so.

Maine West coach Derril Kipp, who has been coaching since 1981, says Tauja Catchings' performance in the state tournament this year was reminiscent of Nora Lewis. Lewis graduated from Peoria Richwoods in 1985 after leading the Knights to the quarterfinals three times. She later led Louisiana Tech to two national championships.

"(Tauja) is the greatest high school basketball player I've seen in Illinois," said Kipp. "She got better by leaps and bounds every year that she played. In every big game that I saw, it was always Tauja that won the game."

"It's really interesting," said Harvey Catchings. "She was always solid. Even when she was a freshman. But she was always willing to take a back seat to her sister. Whenever they needed a strong effort from her, she rose to the occasion."

Some examples:

- In the Maine West supersectional, Catchings scored a career-high 35 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and had nine steals in a 67-62 come-from-behind victory against Loyola.

- Catchings led the Patriots with 18 points against Mother McAuley in their 77-47 rout of the Mighty Macs in the 1995 state title game.

- Catchings and Katie Coleman led Stevenson with 22 points apiece in the Patriots' 50-35 state championship win against Elgin this season.

Her offensive performances are more amazing when you consider that she always guarded the opponent's best player on defense and held them below their averages.

"She was so disruptive against Loyola," said Mattucci. "We're down 11 points in the third quarter and she gets three quick steals and turns the game around. That's the kind of player she is.

"She waits for the game to come to her. And if it doesn't happen, she seizes it."